Category Archives: Week 5 readings

1. In “American Born Chinese“, Gene Luen Yang uses comic book style to depict the difference between Asian-Americans and American Asians. A new student from Taiwan, named Wei-Chen Sun, moves to America and is enrolled in an American school. The first part of the excerpt depicts how not all Asians are alike because there is another Chinese student, but he is Americanized and doesn’t accept Wei-Chen at first. Throughout the excerpt, several Asian stereotypes were depicted including mispronouncing his name (suggesting Asian names are complex) and the use of martial art moves with silly names. This is probably to illustrate the social interactions Asian-Americans have to deal with because they are “different”.
2. On page 36, the teacher mispronounces Wei-Chen Sun’s name wrong and this is to suggest that Asian names are complex. Also, the teacher assumes that the student is just from China when in fact the student is from Taiwan. On page 37, the Americanized Asian boy tells Wei-Chen to speak English since he is in America. I feel as if these first 2 pages depict what foreigners have to deal with when interacting with Americans. In the second excerpt, there is a great fight scene between Danny and the Monkey King disguised as a human. During the fight, the Monkey King uses martial art moves with names like “Mooshu Fist” and “Twice Cook Palm”. This is probably to use the stereotype that Asians know martial arts. Lastly, the Monkey King was depicted as having broken English. Again, this was probably to show that Asians are that much more different than Americans because they can’t speak English properly.
3. One concept that was very important to me was the contrast between Asian-Americans and American Asians. Wei-Chen Sun was the Asian-American and Danny was the American Asian. During recess, Wei-Chen approached Danny first because he saw that he was also Chinese but Danny refused to accept Wei-Chen as a friend at first because Danny himself believes that he isn’t a traditional Chinese person – he thinks he’s just American. Although Asians could be the same on the outside, not every Asian is the same on the inside.
4. This excerpt greatly reminded me of the episode of “Fresh of the Boat” called “So Chineez” where the mom believed that the family wasn’t in touch with their traditional roots. The family are just some Asians who’ve assimilated into American culture, which remind me of Danny. This goes to show that not all Asians are traditional and that you are defined by the environment you grew up in.
5. If you were to move to a different country with your family and you enrolled into a school that didn’t have many students of your ethnicity, what would be your thoughts on the first day of school?

1.In Shilpa Dave’s piece titled, “Apu’s Brown Voice”, he explores the effects and meaning behind the concept of “brown voice” and South Asian accents. The author argues that brown voice reinforces a stereotype and viewpoint on South Asians in the United States, despite what they may actually be going through or their actual positioning in society. The emphasis on this stereotype has now formed views on South Asians and perpetuated stereotypes against them, setting unnecessary expectations with negative implications.

2. Some of the examples that Dave includes are from television shows that include South Asian characters with accents, most notably Apu from The Simpsons. The author shows how the popularity of the show has led to the creation of the stereotype of what South Asians act and sound like, whilst also revealing something about Americans themselves and the impact of television. As Dave states himself, “Apu, a fictional construction, helps us to revise theories of racial performance and thereby examine American racial hierarchies and formations of Asian American communities in popular culture” (Dave 316). As a result, we see the effects of voice and how it forms the way we view other races and ethnicities. The author also cites outside sources and books in order to justify and illustrate some of the differences in how Asian Americans and South Asians in America are different and not necessarily included in the same category due to historical differences and perceptions. For example, as Dave states, “South Asian immigrants have been highly individualized as a group by their cultural behavior that separates them physically and psychologically from the term and group identity of Asian American even though their racial classification has been Asian American” (Dave 329). Consequently, by being separated from the label of Asian American, there is some differences that give South Asians some of the privileges of whiteness, due to some of the colonial history they have faced. Therefore, they are set at a different standard than most Asian Americans and are expected different things, with the intense model minority mindset present.

3. The term that this entire article is centered upon is “brown voice”. The author defines “brown voice” as the “act of speaking in the Indian English accent associated with South Asian nationals and immigrants” (Dave 317). It is what separates South Asians, but also gives them privilege and a feeling of otherness. Furthermore, Dave mentions “British colonial mimicry” which is the “native adopting the habits and mannerisms of the colonizer or in this case the Indian becoming the perfect British citizen” (Dave 328).

4. The points that the author mentions reminds me of how some people feel that Crazy Rich Asians has a lack of representation and is “not Asian enough” because it primarily features Chinese people and there isn’t a presence of a Singaporean accent. Furthermore, there are few  South Asians or “dark-skin” Asians present in the movie, so many people have been critical for the casting choices and direction that the movie took. It reminds us that although Crazy Rich Asians is a step in the right direction of representation, more needs to be done in order to gain equal and adequate representation of all ethnicities and races.

Shilpa Davé’s book, East Main Street: Asian American Popular Culture, deconstructs an American speech practice Davé refers to as “brown voice.” The practice, in which a non-Indian uses a fabricated accent to imitate Indian Americans, creates a set of expectations of cultural otherness and model minority status. Consequently, the perception of Indian Americans associated with the voice remains perpetually locked in unintegrated success.

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Cyberspace, Y2K:

Giant Robots, Asian Punks

The author mainly talks about a new version of Asian American medias, zines and the potential influence that zines might bring to Asian American, such as new choices for life, new identifications for Asian youth and diverse cultural of aesthetic. Zines are only a kind of typical product that generated by diverse, crushed and new Asian cultural entering the American society. And as the development of internet, the form of zines is transferring into cyber version, which can produce more information and has wider influence than paper version. (pp.24) Zines have become a representative Asian American media to show a strong individual awareness as well as a rebellion spirit.

One specific example of where zines come from is that in 1960s zines also developed a new form with underground comix (most famously represented by cartoonist R.Crumb) and music fanzines to the mix. And in the late 1970s and 1980s as the birth of punk, zines began to add these components to show a rebellion spirit against the traditional cultural, to break the stubborn expression of Asian American. And as Greil Marcus firstly did this, with the introduction of punk, very quickly, pop music changed its form—and so did public discourse. (pp.12)

Two main key words is zine and fanzine. A zine (short for magazine or fanzine) is a self-published work with some original or appropriated texts and images, and usually reproduced by photocopier. Zines are not only the product of a single person, but also of a very small group and are always photocopied into some physical prints for circulation. A fanzine (blend of fan and magazine) is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share their interest. (According to Wikipedia “zine”)

In These ‘AZN’ Zines Are Here To Tell The Asian American Story written by Jasmine Ting, she collects numerous Asian American’s products of zines. Interestingly, she finds that one magazine called BANANA have changed the word “Banana” which refers to Asians who are “white inside.” Into a new self-identification for Asian Americans, which shows their fashion and aesthetic taste. This is highly agreed by Rachel Rubin, because he also mentioned that the grassroots nature of zine production and distribution also struggle with the stubborn original frame of medias. The new medias for Asian American and the reasons for them to chase after zines are to show their equality and differences from both Asians as well Americans.

Reference:

1. “These ‘AZN’ Zines Are Here To Tell The Asian American Story”, Jasmine Ting, 05 May 2012
2. “Cyberspace, Y2K: Giant Robots, Asian Punks”, RACHEL RUBIN, March 2003

In this article, “Apu’s Brown Voice: Cultural Inflection and South Asian Accents” by Shilpa Dave, he argues that existence of different racial or cultural identity of South Asian from white. To explain this topic, he refers to animation character, Apu from “The Simpsons”. Apu is known as Indian immigrant and his English has “Indian accent” that is racialized performance, which contains cultural background of how they speak English, racial identity as a sign of Indian American and discrimination as model minority. In this animation, the character of Apu indicates how South Asians are understood or interpreted among American.

In this article, author mentioned, “Indian accents imply a model minority and in multicultural politics this is the type of minority the United States wants to promote because they fit the image of entrepreneurs, computer engineer, and successful immigrants in general” (p.318). This statement means South Asian could be understood as racial difference and their English could not be seen as natural things. Also, “brown voice” that their characteristic accent is the cultural performative practice of manipulating that makes white American think South Asian is non-native speaker. Therefore, the performance of brown voice by South Asian who recognized as successful foreigner could not establish their any kind of presence in American communities.

The key term of this article is “brown voice”. Author indicates that “the practice of brown voice ensures that although Indians are striving to cultural citizenship, the nature of the accent will always be read as foreign and the racial hierarchies of the United States will remain intact.” (p.327) This is one of discrimination that although they have class privilege of success, they are recognized as foreign with only one accent, which lead to ambiguous nature of South Asian racial and cultural identity. Also, brown voice and character of Apu makes us realize that there are stereotype and ethnicity beyond the visual.

This article about “brown voice” could connect to another article “assimilation” by Lisa Sun-Hee Park. In this article, there is statement about “the model minority myth”. This notion represents racial discrimination through assimilation. South Asian are known as successful immigrants but in fact they have difficult problem that they could not be recognized as citizen. We could realize that the vocalization of the model minority also generates the stereotype for them and makes South Asian people feel unpleasant among their life. I think we should rethink what type of cultural stereotype exists except for physical and visual. That might lead many people to be able to see foreigner equally without holding stereotypical notion.

1 In his article, “How good it is to be a monkey: comics, racial for1mation, and American born Chinese”, which appears in An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal on March,2010, Min Hyoung Song explains that Comics, especially “American Born Chinese” which is written by Gene Luen Yang, could help us to consider that how difficult race study in US is. This is because the author thinks that comic’s combination of visual and textual is one of the important vehicle in order to realize race and racism. These problem could have changed such as more or less complicated with the passage of time.

2 One good example is just “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luen Yang. In his comics, we can see Chin-Kee, who is a cousin of Danny and he seems to embody the old-fashioned stereotype for Chinese. For example, he speaks English with strange accent, and he has slant-eyes, and buck teeth as well as Chinese character who was in propaganda illustration against Chinese Coolie in 1880s. Chin-kee basically invades and ruins Danny’s life, for instance Chin-kee has interested in Danny’s girlfriend and he is also depicted like cunning people as well as Fu Manchu. However, he embodies not only nineteenth-century’s stereotype but twentieth-century’s figure like earnest student. The readers could interpret him as not troublesome Chinese but might be an ordinarily teenage boy. “American Born Chinese ” is divided into three parts, and this Danny and Chin-kee’s story is one of them. These stories ultimately lead to one story and all of them is based on the cultural and social experience of Asian American, just as Chin-kee was initially depicted as a nuisance.

3 In this article, the author uses “racial information” as important term in his introduction. It is the way of thinking for racial problem defined by Omi and Winant. According to the author, they considered reinforcing inequality in society by interpreting specific physical features as racial in various everyday situations while Gilroy thinks experience of race minority as a failure example of assimilation. Gilroy also thinks that “simpler hatreds” makes these racial problem more acute rather than it is going to settle as the times advance. The author explains that comics, especially “American Born Chinese” has played an important role of making readers think this problem and showing them what kind of factor are there.

4  I would like to refer to one movie “Der Furher’s Face(1943)” by Disney during WW2. At the beginning of this animation, Donald Duck was forced to work under the control of The Nazis after Axis Powers won. This short movie is propaganda against Germany, Italiy, and Japan and animators drew these leaders face with malice. That is to say, Hitler who was the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party, Mussolini who was the prime minister of Italy, and Hirohito who was the emperor of Japan. The emperor face was look like Chin-Kee even though their race is different. I think that can be proof that Yang’s study drawing Asian people in US during the past two hundreds is quite faithful. Although China was not hostile country against US at that time and some movie which we watched in “Slaying the Dragon” depicted Chinese as good citizen, there was miscellaneous handling for Asians and the associated fixed stereotypes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEy3T8V5G9c

1. In the article “Apu’s Brown Voice”, written by Shilpa Dave, the author discusses how accents has an influence on representation through television of Southern Asians with example of “Brown voice” of Apu, the Indian character of The simpsons. Apu not only gained popularity thanks to humor of “Brown voice” but also shows the image of South Asians as model minority in the US to audience.

2. Apu represents a stereotypical successful case of South Asian immigrant who have successed because of their hardworking efforts. Moreover, He plays an active role without regard to race. He is essential character of The simpsons and very popular character. Apu symbolize the South American’s stereotypical success and racial privilage in the Us. However, he is one of the only South Asian on the TV and there is no other type of South Asian people on TV. Therefore, his image of South Asian has a great power and influence on how South Asian cultural identity is seen in the US even though he is played by white, not authentic Indian. As Shilpa stated, “Indian accents imply a model minority and multicultural politics this is the type of minority the United States wants to promote because they fit the entrepreneurs, computer engineers, and successful immigrants in general.” (318) Apu and his accents represent not only South Asian immigrat’s success in the US as model minority but also these images can reinforce them to be like Apu as ideal way to be accepted in the US.

3. The important term in this article is “brown voice”. According to Shilpa, it “identifies specific racializing trait among South Asians which simultaneously connotes foreignness and class and cultural privilege.” (314) It means that South Asians are accepted as model minority and privileged ethnic group comparison to other Asian groups in the US because of their political and economic consequence they have achieved and their particular historical background. Brown voice makes us think about how we see and racial identity and how we process the cultural meaning of accent beyond the visual.

4. The ideas presented in this chapter connects to the ideas in the Crazy Rich Asians. It achieved big success as a movie which all performers are Asian. However, there are a lot of arguments because there is a difference in how each Asians are descripted in the movie. this movie is particular about performing by only Asians, but, there are lot of East Asian actors (in particular Chinese Americans) and there are few Southeast Asian actors even though this film is set in Singapore. Moreover, almost all of characters speak British or American English. Some Singaporean speak English with accent and it is well known as “Singlish”. However, few characters speak Singlish in the film.

1. In ‘Cyberspace, Y2K: Giant Robots, Asian Punks’, Rubin chronicles and analyzes young Asian Americans’ utilization of zines (as both creators and consumers) and their aesthetic/characteristics to fight against racism/stereotypes while reclaiming the term ‘Asian American’. She frames her argument in the historical context of early anti-immigration laws passed against Asians, political activism in the mid-late 1900s, development of the Internet, and the infiltration of Asian culture into American mainstream at the turn of the 21st century.
2. Rubin references the Chinese Exclusion Act and the 1924 Quota Act to show how “Asian immigration was linked to restriction and racial anxiety” since long ago (pg 3). The War Brides Act, while seemingly a step in the right direction, is (according to Rubin) actually just a different way for the majority to establish a “domestic imperialism” over Asians (pg 3). Rubin says the fact that (cyber)zines are “de-centered, anarchic, independent, outsider and democratic” allowed self-expression to go “against the ‘polite Asian’ stereotype” (among others, such as specific stereotypes about Asian women) (pg 21, pg 16). With the seemingly limitless audience the Internet provided and the popularization of Asian culture in America, zine publishing became an important tool for young Asian Americans to navigate their “Asian ancestry/American struggle” (pg 2).
3. (1) zine: short for fanzine, which originated in the 1930’s as self-published cheap periodicals (mostly of the sci-fi genre); common characteristics include being self-produced, grassroots distribution, passion>profit, ‘down with big business’ attitude, openness, contrasting/unpolished aesthetic                                                              (2) pastiche: artistic style of taking pieces of existing works from various sources and incorporating them into a new piece (like a collage)                                                                                                           (3) postmodernism: art concept that stressed “lack of certainty about meaning, elevation of the popular, and continuous recontextualization of pre-existing material” (pg 9)
4. The history of Asian American zines seems to directly contradict the history of Asian Americans in the film industry in a two major ways. The fact that the Internet is a democratic, free space is opposite that of the hierarchical and racially exclusive nature of the major motion film industry (this also explains why Asian Americans are disproportionally so popular on online platforms like Youtube while still struggling for representation in films and TV). Also, while the unpolished, amateurish style of early Asian American films didn’t do many favors for its creators, Rubin attests that a similar aesthetic is one reason why zines served as an ideal platform for Asian Americans.

1. In the chapter, Apu’s Brown Voice, by Dave, the author examines the relationship between cultural value of accents and the idea of cultural relationship. He further investigates the question of how the acceptance of South Asian accent on television sanction a limited vision of the presence of South Asians in the  U.S., as well as how does this portrayal increase a static American cultural ethnic citizenship. Through analyzing the character, Apu, Dave argues that the prominence of “brown voice” is a form of cultural inflection, which sets them as a privilege model minority.

2. “Indian accents imply a model minority and in multicultural politics this type of minority the Unites states wants to promote because they fit the image of entrepreneurs, computer engineers, and successful immigrants in general” (318).

• Through this perception, brown voice is understood as the cultural performative practice of manipulating meaning and creating a cultural difference. Even though South Asians possess the privileged position of being recognized as successful foreigners, this position further inhibits the perception of South Asians to expand and prohibit any other type of presence in America. The constant use of brown voice throughout establishes a particular sound and a specific image for South Asians in the cultural imagination. The effect of this “freezes” the view of the group in a static definition. Therefore, with brown voice, the perception of the accent is associated with not only with a model minority Asian immigrant, but also a privileges minority.

“According to show writer Mike Reiss though, when Hank Azaria (the voice of Apu) started to voice act the script, Azaria couldn’t help but give Apu an Indian accent” (322).

• This statement is an example of the effect of those who do not understand the cultural differences among South Asians. Since  the voice actor was not able to help himself from giving Apu the accent that many Americans believe South Asians have, it enhances the perception of South Asian Americans possessing only one voice and one image. This in turn, further reinforces the static position South Asian Americans take in mainstream society.

3. An important term that the author introduces is the “brown voice.” The author explains that this term identifies a specific radicalizing trait among South Asians. The author defines this term as the act of speaking in the Indian English accent that is linked with the general South Asian American population. The South Asian voice,  reflects the shapeless physical position that South Asians have taken up in American racial hierarchies. The author further explains that the concept of brown voice is a dose of foreignness.

4.  The ideas presented in this chapter connects to the ideas in the American Born Chinese by Gene Yang. The main character Danny, is an Asian American kid who strives to fit in with his American peers. Rather than wanting to be viewed as the “stereotypical Asian,” Danny wants to be accepted by his peers as an “American.” South Asian Americans s are also in a similar boat as Danny. Both Danny and South Asians want to break through the glass ceiling effects and be acknowledged beyond the stereotypical expectations placed on them. The character in The Simpsons series, Apu, is a popular character that represents South Asian Americans with one voice and one image. This character as well as the theory of brown voice, inhibits people from expanding their perspective on South Asian Americans beyond the concept of “successful foreigners.” Accented English in any form makes us reflect on who and what can represent a true American or occupy the space of a “cultural citizen. To break out of the brown voice through accent variation or other methods would defy the expectations of the audience.

In the article “How Good It Is to Be a Monkey,” author Min Song explains the meanings behind some of Gene Yang’s comics on the Chinese American life in the late 1900s. Song describes most of Yang’s graphics as, although satirical, somewhat realistic. Many 0f the comics depict the struggles that Chinese Americans have with who they are and how others view them.

“Yang’s work is thus situated between the poles of realism and genre fiction…” (76). Here Song states that much of Yang’s work has not only presented realistic views, but they also have presented these views in an exaggerated or fictional way to appeal to a larger range of readers. “…the complexity of the stories Yang wishes to tell is conveyed with great succinctness through his use of the visual and textual.” (78). Also, the book “Gordon Yamamoto” declares that Yang’s work, although short, are profound and often contain deep meaning of race and identity.

The term racial formation means the study of race and how it is a socially constructed identity. It describes how race is defined by society, economy, and politics. The term graphic narrative (graphic novel) basically means a comic book. A book, or novel, of mostly pictures and text boxes that often tell a story or convey a meaning. Although most people view graphic novels as a genre meant for lazy readers, many comic creators, like Gene Yang, can create deep and meaningful images and stories through the use of simple comics.

Yang’s works depict the Asian American identity in a humorous or exaggerated way, while at the same time keeping the theme or message still relatively realistic. Similarly, the Asian American sitcom, “Fresh off the Boat,” presents an Asian American family who simply live their daily lives but often run into humorous situations that often times have a deeper cultural meaning. Both “Fresh off the Boat” and Gene Yang’s comics attempt and succeed to present a normally sensitive topic like race in a humorous but very real light, which in the end helps them gain popularity and succeed business-wise.